Trump orders Navy to revert to older steam catapults for launching jets off aircraft carriers
President Donald Trump has directed the US Navy to remove the advanced electromagnetic launch system from its newest aircraft carriers and return to older steam catapults, a move that could cost billions and follows years of his criticism of the new technology.
US President Donald Trump has ordered the Navy to remove the advanced system used to launch fighter jets from its newest type of aircraft carrier and revert to older steam catapults, which he has long said he prefers. According to a directive issued Thursday, the new mandate would likely cost billions of dollars and turn the Navy's most advanced ships back to a system that requires more sailors to operate and is harder to maintain.
The memo directs the Pentagon and the Navy to present Trump with plans to remove the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, also known as EMALS, within two months. It also says the Ford-class carrier's electromagnetic weapons elevators should be replaced. The move follows years of Trump's criticism of the new magnetically driven catapult technology, even as some tech experts point to advantages such as faster aircraft launch speeds, easier maintenance, fewer required crew members, and less space usage aboard the ship.
Trump's directive names the fourth Ford-class carrier, the USS Doris Miller, as the first ship to incorporate the changes. That will leave the USS Gerald R. Ford, as well as the forthcoming USS John F. Kennedy and USS Enterprise, untouched. Trump's frustration with the technology dates back to 2017, when he told Time magazine the new system is "not good" and "doesn't have the power" of older steam systems. "You're going to goddamned steam," he said at the time. The topic has come up frequently at rallies and other events since then.
While the US president is rolling back the latest technology, China's newest aircraft carriers employ electromagnetic catapults, and France has said it plans to use the system on its new carrier. However, redesigning an already finalised ship for such a major system change is not an easy task. EMALS aboard the USS Ford cut the number of sailors needed to operate the catapults from about a dozen to two earlier this year.
Trump's memo also noted that one issue facing shipbuilding is the Navy's constant design changes, "which have resulted in cost growth, delays, and cancellations." General Atomics, the company that makes EMALS, said the decision not to proceed with the system on the USS Doris Miller "warrants careful reconsideration," noting that work on the ship's catapults and arresting gear was already halfway complete. Changing course now, the company said, would introduce significant cost, schedule, and integration risks.
The move comes as Congress weighs budget and funding bills the Trump administration says are needed for the Pentagon and the Iran war. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated last month that the war's cost grew to $37.5 billion as Republicans prepared a $95 billion package to fund the military. Hegseth called the supplemental war funding an "urgent, necessary" injection of money, and described Trump's proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget as a generational investment. The House narrowly adopted both measures, but the Senate must still act when it returns in September.
